


The Little Mermaid

by dxs



Series: Slade Robin week [2]
Category: Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, SladeRobin Week, mer dad Slade, merfolks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27212791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxs/pseuds/dxs
Summary: Dick has a tiny, little friend.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Slade Wilson
Series: Slade Robin week [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986709
Comments: 22
Kudos: 130
Collections: SladeRobin Week 2020





	The Little Mermaid

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2: We have Merfolks!
> 
> This work was inspired by this beautiful [art](https://kalech-art.tumblr.com/post/622365632161284096/i-made-this-very-rushed-merman-slade-for-mermay-i)

Dick skips excitedly as he makes his way down to the docks, his price clutched tightly in his hand as he goes. He cuts off from the main road, taking the beaten path that leads to a secluded part of the docks, away from the sailors, fishermen and any prying eyes. 

He increases the length of his strides when he realizes the position of the sun in the sky. Dick has an appointment with a very important person, and tardiness was frowned upon. 

It didn't take long before the sea came into view. He covers the distance in record time, stripping out of his clothes before swimming out to the rock, visible farther into the sea. 

As he sits there, waiting for his guests to arrive he reminisces on his first meeting with the mers. He didn't believe he would ever willingly come out to the river again. Not for any reason and certainly not for an appointment with the creatures who ruled the sea. 

Not with his first impression of them. 

Not with _Slade's_ first impression. 

_Dick was enjoying an afternoon with a book Bruce had gotten him for his last birthday, on his father's yacht. Being the son of a man who owned a yacht and having blanket permission whenever he wanted to go in was still new to him, but he enjoyed the privacy it offered whenever he came out on the docks._

_This time, he had been living in the boat for two days now, having decided to go on a strike and leave home until Bruce saw reason and his seriousness on the topic and gave in to his request to attend the public school like the other kids his age were doing, instead of getting him a private tutor._

_There he was, enjoying the view as some dolphins put on a show for him that evening. He had taken the boat out into the ocean earlier that morning and planned on staying out till the next morning._

_He didn't think anything was amiss when every sea creature in the area immediately cleared out. Leaving the place eerily quiet for a while._

_Then suddenly, he is grabbed and pulled into the ocean before he could utter a single word or even register what was happening. The grip on his calf is strong and firm as he is dragged across the bottom of the ocean._

_Just as quickly, as Dick resigns himself to a death by drowning, his body never to be found, he is unceremoniously dumped on a small, uncharted island in the middle of the ocean._

_It takes more than a few moments for him to get his bearings, and in that time, his book is dumped on the sand beside him._

_O god! He's going to die._

_Bruce was right. He can't survive alone out on a boat, no matter how big and luxurious it is. He's going to die out in the middle of the ocean and his body won't be found for weeks or even months._

_He should never have started this strike to begin with._

_He's still panicking, his novel clutched to his chest in comfort when a man, naked and wearing the face of a monster rises from the ocean._

_Dick gasps. "Sir," He starts._

_"Read." the man commands, with a voice like rolling thunder._

_"Wha-- I-- Are you-- What?!" He's momentarily stomped at the weird command. "Did you pull me out here?"_

_"Read." the man repeats, ignoring his question._

_"Are you crazy? Were you trying to kill me or something?"_

_The man doesn't move from his position. Not even an attempt to enter dry land. How is he not freezing in the cold water?_

_"I said, read."_

_"Go screw yourself." Dick yells, suddenly very angry. "You don't get to ask me to do anything after you almost drowned me."_

_What is this, some kind of fetish? Must be. Bruce warned him about men like these. They're predators and will prey on young people._

_"Read or drown." the man warns._

_"Well, I guess you better finish what you started then, because I'm not reading anything."_

_The man stares silently at Dick, almost as if he's daring him. Dick ignores him. Purposefully turning away from the man, while he wraps his arms around his body for warmth._

_The sea breeze isn't helping and there is little to do on the island for warmth or entertainment. All the fishes have suddenly disappeared from the area._

_From the corner of his eyes, he can see the man's unmoving form still watching Dick curiously._

_Weird._

_A long while later, the man still hasn't moved and Dick is trying to not go crazy at the thought of being stuck on this island, without food or water. How long until Bruce realizes what has happened?_

_God, he hopes it's soon._

_He's almost dozing off when the sound of something disturbing the water, followed by waves crashing on the island disturbs his rest._

_He looks up to see a fishtail slapping against the ocean._

___Dick gaps when he realizes that the tail is attached to the man._ _ _

_"Holy surprise mermaid! You're a mermaid!!" Dick yells, losing his balance in an attempt to abruptly stand up._

_He didn't even know mermaids were real. Does anyone know? Is he going to be this monster's meal?_

_A hand grabs him as he trips, lightning fast to steady him before he falls into the sea._

_"Don't touch me!" He snaps, jerking out of the monster's grip._

_The monster snorts but backs off._

_Dick breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe he won't get eaten if he doesn't show fear. Can mers even smell fear? He hopes not._

_He is huddled on the ground, curled in a tight hall, starving and shivering from the cold. It's been a couple of hours at least. The merman is still keeping watch, waiting for Dick to break._

_Joke's on you,_ Dick thinks. _I'll never break._

_The sun is setting and he is halfway asleep when he notices something else in the otherwise, quiet water. Upon closer inspection, he finds that it's another mer. Unlike the mer Dick is acquainted with, this is the size of a tiny Ken doll with looks to match._

_He's so busy scrutinizing his features, it takes him a minute to notice the seaweed the little mer is offering him._

_"OMG! You're so adorable!" Dick gushes, his fears about his safety and current situation momentarily forgotten as he shuffled closer. He's never seen something so tiny and adorable. "How are you so tiny?"_

_The mer responds in a language Dick is completely unfamiliar with, in a squeaky, high pitched, voice. He has absolutely no hope of discerning the meaning._

_Wide eyes stare up at him from the water even as the tiny hands of the mer push the seaweed towards him._

_"Oh!" Dick says with dawning realization. "Are you offering me food? I can't eat that."_

_The mer stares uncomprehendingly at Dick. When Dick makes no move to eat the leaf, he disappears into the water, leaving him with the giant mer._

_Dick fears he may have offended the tiny mer, but he resurfaces a few moments later, this time with a dead fish. Offering his catch to Dick._

_Dick is tempted to eat the raw fish, and not only to avoid breaking his little heart._

_While he's contemplating his life choices, the little mer busies himself with the pages of Dick's book. When he notices Dick staring, he quickly backs away from the book, ducking under the large mer's fin._

_Oh, so this is what it's all about._

_Dick wants to say something in return, but he is immediately distracted by the picture they make._

_They look so comical standing side by side. A merman, half the size of Bruce's yacht and one less than the length of his forearm. Not that Dick let himself be drawn in by the sight. This bastard kidnapped him. Dick will not give him the satisfaction of finding him fascinating._

_He has no desire to be kind to the large mer, but this little guy is too precious to refuse._

_"Would you like me to read to you?" Dick asks, directing his question to the tiny mer._

_The large mer says something to the baby mer, which Dick is led to believe is a translation of his question, in a much softer tone than anything he used on Dick earlier. The language consists mainly of clicking sounds and consonants, but after a moment, the baby turns to Dick with an eager nod._

_And really, how can he say no to that face?_

_The big guy may be an asshole, but the little one is innocent._

_Without further ado, he picks up the book and starts reading._

__

__After a few minutes of reading, the large mer -- Slade-- had taken him back to the boat, but not before the little mer-- Jason-- finagled a promise to meet again the next day out of him. Because despite a rocky first meeting, Dick had been unable to say no to Jason._ _

__He would later find that he wasn't alone in this. Slade, the self proclaimed most dangerous mer in the seven seas, not that Dick doubted him, a mer whose species wasn't known for nurturing their young, had taken one look at Jason and promptly adopted him._ _

__The story of their meeting, and watching how fiercely protective he is over the little mer had improved Dick's opinion of him. What with being an adopted child himself, and all._ _

__Dick is staring out into the calm ocean in anticipation when he hears the tiny squeak of his name._ _

__"Dick!" the new comer chips excitedly, the sound of his voice almost lost the breeze._ _

__He looks down at the edge of the rock to find Jason, torso half out of the ocean, grinning innocently at him._ _

__Jason hasn't grown much in the weeks since their first meeting._ _

__His father busied himself, farther down in the ocean. Close enough to keep an eye on them but far enough to not be in the way._ _

__He ignores the flutter in his stomach at the thought that Slade trusts him with Jason. He doesn't care what the mer thinks about him. He's here for Jason and only Jason._ _

__Besides, with how far Slade is, Dick wouldn't complete the thought about hurting Jason before he's mer snacks._ _

__"Hey, Jay!" Dick returns the greeting excitedly. "How are you today?"_ _

__"I fine!" Jay grins sweetly. Dick finds himself returning the grin happily, as Jason carefully lifts his body further from the ocean to rest on the rock beside his calf._ _

__He is mesmerized by the reflection of the sun on Jason's pretty scales. He ignores the missing verb. Jason is determined to learn human language. With Dick's help, he has been making great progress but sometimes, in his excitement, he skips some points._ _

__"Look! Look!!! Look!!!" Jason calls, and that's when he notices Jason pulling something out of the ocean. "Got you present."_ _

__He reaches down to help the little Mer pull up his present. The shell he finds is almost as large as Jason._ _

__At Jason's expectant look, he opens it to reveal a smaller shell and two pearls. The shell is possibly the most beautiful thing Dick has ever seen, with the way it reflects when the sun hits it._ _

__"Jason," He breaths, looking into the mer's anxious eyes. "This is beautiful. I love it!" He says earnestly._ _

__Jason beams with pride, and Dick runs a hand over his hair in gratitude._ _

__"I will treasure it." He swears, carefully placing the shell on the ground beside him._ _

__The action makes Jay even happier. Since their first meeting, Jason had been trying to give Dick gifts. Mostly by trying to feed him raw fish and seaweed. Once the little mer had given him a half chewed prawn, because he was convinced Dick needed help digesting food. Slade, who knew better, had been too invested in making Dick eat the prawn to help him explain better to Jason._ _

__It always broke Dick's heart when he had to turn them down but it helped Jason learn the differences in their physiology._ _

__These days, his presents mostly consist of stuff like shiny foils and coins Jason finds in the ocean, a couple of which were actually very valuable, according to Bruce. Who didn't believe Dick when he said a mer had given them to him._ _

__Which is why he was determined to bring Jason a present._ _

__"I got you a gift too," Dick informs him, even happier now that his present had been ready for him to give his best friend today._ _

__Dick pulls out the children's storybook from where he had laid it beside him to show Jason. Every page of it has been laminated to ensure the it's survival in Jason's home under the sea. At least for a while._ _

__He watches how Jason's eyes light up with happiness at the sight of the book._ _

__"Gift?" the mer asks, eyes wide with awe as he takes in the book. "For me?"_ _

__"Yes," Dick nods. "I had the pages laminated so that you can take it home and it won't tear or wash off like the others. Your dad can read it to you when you get home." He explains to the excited mer._ _

__"Eeeeeee!" His friend squeals, dragging the book under the sea with him._ _

__The book is bigger and much heavier than the tiny Mer, but Jason isn't deterred. He drags the book under water, staying there for a moment before resurfacing. Checking the book over to ensure Dick's promise holds true._ _

__Once it is certain that no harm has been done to his gift, Jason goes off. Dick can't tell if he's talking in English or mer speaks, his voice is too high-pitched and squeaky to really tell, but he's grinning widely at Dick, tiny hands patting the words and colorful illustrations, so Dick knows he loves his present._ _

__"Would you like me to read from it today?" He has another book ready, just in case Jason would rather have his dad read the book to him first._ _

__He gets an eager nod for his question._ _

__Dick reads to the entire chapter before Jason starts flagging. As enthusiastic as he is about reading and learning all there is to learn, he's still too young to stay too long above sea level._ _

__By then, Slade has moved closer, Jason cradled protectively in his fin._ _

__"Hey," Dick starts, just before they have to bid each other goodbye._ _

__Slade raises a brow at him._ _

__"So, it's my birthday soon. I'm turning 13 and we're having a party."_ _

__Slade gives him a look as if to ask why Dick feels the need to inform him._ _

__He takes a deep breath, ignores how hard his heart is beating against his ribcage and pushes on. "I was hoping Jason could come to my party."_ _

__"No." Slade says tersely._ _

__"Look, I know you're worried but I promise--"_ _

__"No." he cuts him off._ _

__"But--"_ _

__Slade has a hand around his throat before he can argue further._ _

__"I said: No."_ _

__Dick looks to Jason for solidarity, but the mer is already passed out._ _

__He really wants to show Jason his home, and what better time than at his party, where everything will be decorated to look pretty? He has an aquarium being set up by his dad as well as a collection of food to feed him when he comes. He just needs to convince Slade no harm will come to Jason while in his care._ _

__"Alright," He chokes out with a glare. He'll try again another time, when he knows Jason can be a part of the argument._ _

__Jason is the most curious little mer in the sea. He'll jump at the opportunity to explore the surface and Slade can't refuse him anything._ _

__He'll let's Slade enjoy his victory._ _

__For now._ _


End file.
